I struck out on out count

It's often the positive stories that get me in trouble, not the negative ones.

I've got lawyers miffed at me, never a good thing, over a story I wrote earlier this week about what may be the first time that a Canadian university business school has examined the issue of being out in the workplace. You can read it here.

University of Manitoba law Prof. Karen Busby was among the panellists at the session at the I.H. Asper School of Business at U of M, and she had some comments to make about the lack of senior gay and lesbian lawyers in the city who are out.

I understood she was talking about lawyers at the partner level in large law firms, but that didn't come through clearly in the story. Busby was talking specifically about the city's five largest law firms.

And before I have to apologize for the first paragraph of this blog, it is organizers and participants in that session at the business school who told me it was a positive story.

For the homophobes who regularly read (monitor) me, and who see any extension of human rights for gays and lesbians as strictly a negative story, I await the vitriol as soon as you can hit the reply button... anonymously, it goes without saying.

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments.
All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments.
All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.

About Nick Martin

Nick Martin is the old bearded guy at the back of the newsroom, the most experienced reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press, having started his career in Ontario in 1971.

He’s been covering education for the Free Press since the spring of 1997, after decades primarily covering municipal politics, including a four-year stint at the Ontario legislature for the London Free Press.

Nick moved to Manitoba in 1988 with his Winnipeg-born wife, who is a professor at the University of Manitoba. They have two kids, both of whom graduated from Grant Park High School: son Chris and daughter Gillian.

Nick has won a national journalism award from the Canadian Association of University Teachers, two Manitoba Human Rights Journalism awards, and the Ontario Reporters Association investigative award.

Nick is a long-distance runner, having finished and survived 18 marathons and 15 half-marathons and 30-kilometre races, and having (barely) survived 10 years as an outdoor and indoor soccer coach.

Nick became a soccer referee in 2007, delighting in his 60s in outrunning 16-year-olds and keeping his distance from obstreperous coaches and parents.

Nick and his wife have discovered a mutual love for kayaking at their Whiteshell cottage, and are both regulars at the Reh-Fit Centre. They hold season tickets to both the Manitoba Theatre Centre and the Warehouse, and as empty nesters, have rediscovered the joys of an active winter vacation.

A native of Jarrow-on-Tyne, England, Nick is a member of the Toon Army as a Newcastle United supporter, and a proud citizen of Leafs Nation.